Lebanon Mountain Trail Hike #8

isberlegge
Oct 22, 2020
2 min read

Thanksgiving weekend 2020. The government is suggesting that we stick to dinner with our single household. They might have well said "visit outside, hiking is a good idea!"

A weekend for family. I had come across the Lebanon Mountain Trail - Bruce Trail Friendship Trail when flipping through my trail guide.

It's a section of our trail that is twinned with a section of the 440 km trail in Lebanon.

Not everyone that knows me will have thought to wonder what kind of name Isber is, but my Grandfather's parents emigrated to Canada from Lebanon at least 90 years ago. My blond hair certainly distracts from this heritage, but my brother more than makes up for it!

There are 9 sections of the Bruce Trail twinned with sections of international long distance foot trails. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a walk on this coincidence!

Check out the Lebanon Mountain Trail here

We only hiked part of this trail today, a loop across the top of the Bayview Escarpment made with the side trail of the same name.

It was a lovely hike with Mom, Taylor and Bruce on a crisp sunny day. The trail is rocky and a bit uneven, tricky for Mom to navigate easily. I was trying hiking with a single pole, and Mom was using a pair. I can't say I used mine much, mostly for pointing a mushrooms and interesting trees! Maybe on a hike with more elevation gain.

We first detoured onto the Legacy Ridge Side Trail to find the clue at a look out that sees clear to the Owen Sound Harbour.Check!

They're tiny, but check out these little puffball mushrooms we found!

I had a small victory today as well.

The first time that I noticed the Hart's Tongue Fern! I think I generally just didn't notice it before because it is common enough along the trail in northern Grey County, but it is a rare fern globally, found only in Ontario and 4 states, and considered endangered in all of them. This little guy!

Now that I've seen him, I can't stop seeing him in the woods! Hello Asplenium scolopendrium!

We also found another fern that was distinctly different, with wider, fuller fronds, and a very big leaflet. Goldie's Wood Fern as it turns out!

A wonderful fern-y day!